The Canisius College men’s lacrosse team fell to Siena on Saturday afternoon, 16-6, at the Demske Sports Complex. The loss drops the Griffs to 1-8 on the season and 1-2 in MAAC play, while the Saints improve to 4-7 and 2-1 against league foes.

“We make a mistake here and a mistake there and all these little things end up costing us goals,” said head coach Randy Mearns. “You make those little errors at this level and a good team like Siena is going to capitalize. We just have to continue to get better. We have to play together and just straighten out all the little things that cost us and we will see an improvement in our results.”

Freshman Billy Jacobbi led the Griffs attack in just his second career appearance and first collegiate start, recording three points on a goal and two assists. Senior Joe Rautenstrauch, sophomores Brandon Bull, Sam Connors and Tim Edwards and freshman Vince Gravino each added a goal for Canisius on the afternoon.

The two schools played a close game to start the contest. Siena opened the scoring on its first possession, netting the game’s opening tally 57 seconds in, only to see the Griffs respond on their first possession. Rautenstrauch tallied an unassisted goal at the 13:02 mark to even the contest. The Saints then added two goals before Edwards scored an unassisted goal with 4:48 left in the first.

However, Siena would take control from there. The Saints scored two more goals before the first period ended, including one with just six seconds remaining for the 5-2 lead after 15 minutes. Siena then picked up in the second right where it left off in the first, scoring just five seconds into the quarter. Overall, the Saints outscored the Griffs, 3-1, in the second period to head into the intermission with an 8-3 lead.

Siena was then able to carry its momentum into the third following the halftime break, outscoring Canisius, 6-1, in the quarter. Overall, the Saints used an 11-2 run to turn a 3-2 lead into a 14-4 advantage. Both schools netted two goals in the final quarter for the 16-6 final score.

The Saints finished the game with a 37-29 advantage in shots and a slight edge in faceoffs, 14-12. Colin Clive led Siena with four goals, while Matt Sharp recorded 11 saves to earn the victory in net.

The Griffs look to rebound next weekend with a road game at Manhattan. The contest is slated to begin at 11 a.m.

Game Notes: Saturday’s contest was a rematch of the 2012 MAAC Championship, which Canisius won, 10-9 … The Griffs now hold an 18-7 edge in the all-time series … The goals for Jacobbi and Connors were both the first of their careers … Canisius has been outscored, 39-10, in the third quarter this season … The Griffs committed fewer turnovers (14-13) than an opponent for just the second time this year.